Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $70.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their previous target price of $65.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 29.53% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CMG. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.60.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMG opened at $54.04 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.68, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a one year low of $47.98 and a one year high of $69.26. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.13.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 42.92% and a net margin of 13.56%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Laurie Schalow sold 4,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $286,304.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 185,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,078,337.92. This represents a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CMG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,093,345,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter valued at about $692,701,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 4,138,574.1% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 8,318,735 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $501,620,000 after purchasing an additional 8,318,534 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 30,100,520 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,815,061,000 after purchasing an additional 6,853,470 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the fourth quarter valued at about $315,220,000. 91.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. It sells food and beverages through offering burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, tacos, and salads. The company also provides delivery and related services its app and website. It has operations in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.